Guinea gov't says at least 10 killed in post-election violence
Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - The Guinean government on Wednesday announced that a dozen people have been killed in post-election violence in the West African country blaming it on the leader of the opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), Mamadou Cellou Dalein Diallo, declaring himself winner of last Sunday's vote.
In a statement signed by the Minister of Security and Civil Protection, Albert Damanta Camara, said the bodies of four people shot dead have been deposited in the mortuaries of Donka Hospital and Ignace Deen, while one death by stabbing and two others by firearms were recorded in Kissidougou in the south.
It said in Coyah, about 50 km from the capital, one person was shot dead, while a policeman was lynched in Bambéto and another was stabbed to death at the Cimenterie, in the upper suburbs of Conakry.
"These officers, who had no lethal weapons, were part of the system set up to remove the barricades on the Le Prince road and maintain order. Many citizens have been injured and there has been significant material damage," the government said.
President Alpha Conde, who is running for a third term, is said to be leading in the results.
Meanwhile, videos circulating on social networks report that about 10 people were killed by bullets in neighbourhoods in the upper suburbs, considered to be strongholds of the UFDG.
The government also denounced "multiple attacks on peaceful citizens, as well as the erection of barricades, burning of tyres, use of tree trunks, among others, to prevent the security services from carrying out their legal duties of protecting people and property".
In several prefectures in the interior of the country, incidents have been recorded between UFDG militants and those of other political parties, including the ruling Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée (RPG, Rainbow).
The government denounced and condemned targeted attacks against private concessions in the interior of the country, in the upper suburbs of Conakry, as well as against the headquarters of of parties of presidential candidates and the homes of their activists.
The private home of the Mr Diallo, in Dixinn, a suburb of Conakry, has been surrounded by security forces.
-0- PANA AC/JSG/BBA 22Oct2020